


Happily Ever After

by Ginipig



Series: Cullistair One-Shots [16]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, King Alistair (Dragon Age), M/M, Romantic Fluff, Sweet Cullen Rutherford, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22540246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ginipig/pseuds/Ginipig
Summary: Alistair has always loved the romance of fairy tales, so when he wakes up before Cullen for the first time ever, he indulges in his own romantic fantasy.
Relationships: Alistair/Cullen Rutherford, cullistair - Relationship
Series: Cullistair One-Shots [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604995
Comments: 27
Kudos: 39
Collections: Cullistair Kisses





	Happily Ever After

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jellysharkbat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellysharkbat/gifts).



> In response to an (utterly adorable!) anonymous* ask/prompt from Tumblr:  
> "Just like in the fairytales, a handsome prince kisses his beloved and they wake up from their slumber. Alistair decides that's how he'll wake Cullen because hey, it's romantic! And Alistair is the King of Romance! Bonus kudos: Cullen is actually awake, and they both know it, but Cullen plays along anyways."
> 
> Anon, this started out fluffy and it ended up even fluffier than I expected. Thanks for such a great prompt!
> 
> *Edit: The anonymous prompter has revealed themselves, and they are my friend jellysharkbat. The fic is officially gifted and dedicated to them 🥰💚

Alistair woke to a darkened room. Darkened, but not dark — as nice as the curtains in the royal bedroom were, they couldn’t keep out the morning sun, and the main window faced east.

If the sun was up, that meant he’d been allowed to sleep in for the first time in what felt like Ages. And he’d woken naturally, not to repeated pounding on the door, for perhaps the first time since his coronation.

And even more surprisingly, although he’d normally roll over and go back to sleep even if only for a few minutes, now he was wide awake.

Wow. Being king really had changed him.

He sighed, but rolled over anyway, only to find himself face-to-face with his favorite person in Thedas.

Cullen.

Sleeping Cullen.

He _never_ woke up before Cullen.

And now that he’d seen Cullen in peaceful sleep, one arm still slung over his own torso, Alistair wanted to wake up this way every day for the rest of his life.

Because Maker’s breath, was Cullen beautiful like this. His handsome face, always furrowed when he was conscious, was now smoothed in relaxation, making him look at least a decade younger. His much-loathed curls lay adorably mussed on one side and flattened into the pillow on the other, and the slightest shadow of stubble darkened the lower half of his face.

Alistair couldn’t help himself — he reached out and brushed his fingers through Cullen’s hair, caressing his cheek on their way down to his jaw and eventually his chin. Just the slightest quirk at the corners of his mouth filled Alistair’s heart to bursting, and Alistair didn’t know if wanted to laugh or cry or some uncomfortable combination of the two.

And then he had a thought. A silly, childish thought, yes, but what was the point of being a responsible adult if he couldn’t be a little childish sometimes?

In fairy tales, a handsome prince would kiss his beloved, who would wake from an enchanted slumber. Sure, that beloved was usually a princess, and Alistair was a king, not a prince, but details, shmetails. What a romantic way to wake up the man he loved on such a peaceful morning.

He might never get this chance again.

So he imagined Cullen had been kidnapped and trapped in a tower by a horrible old dragon and her evil swamp witch daughter and enchanted into a sleep so deep it could only be broken by the kiss of his beloved — the brave, kind, funny, smart, incredibly handsome prince-slash-king of Ferelden.

Hey, not everything had to be _completely_ pretend.

He leaned in to press his lips against Cullen’s, eyes fluttering closed, and —

“What are you doing?”

Alistair’s eyes snapped back open to find Cullen watching him through half-closed lids, a lopsided smile on his stupid beautiful face.

Alistair sat up quickly. “Nothing.”

“How convincingly unsuspicious.”

Damn it. Why did he have to fall in love with such an intelligent, sarcastic man? Why couldn’t he have stumbled upon a sexy idiot who looked good swinging a sword shirtless?

Alistair shrugged, turning his entire body away so Cullen wouldn’t see the mortification burning across his face. “I was just marveling at the once in an Age event that is me waking up before you.”

“Alistair.”

Cullen’s concerned tone and gentle hand at his back told him he wouldn’t be getting away from this unscathed by a tolerant smirk and a roll of those gorgeous amber eyes.

“You’ll think it’s stupid.”

“Perhaps I should be the judge of that?”

Alistair sighed, shoulders slumping. “I wanted to wake you up with a kiss. You know, like in the fairy tales. Enchanted sleep, handsome prince, sneaky witch thief, and whatnot.”

“Sneaky what?”

“Never mind.” Alistair shrugged. “It was stupid.”

Cullen was quiet for a long time, during which Alistair imagined a dozen and a half different witty remarks he wouldn’t be able to counter with anything but tears of humiliation.

But instead of any of that, Cullen withdrew his hand.

“I don’t know about you,” he said, yawning. “But I’m still tired. I think I’ll sleep a bit longer.”

When Alistair turned to look, Cullen had closed his eyes once again — but this time he lay on his back, hands folded across his abdomen.

Alistair’s eyes stung. Cullen was always so serious. In fact, going by the way Cullen usually rolled his eyes at him, Alistair often wondered if his humor and goofiness grated on Cullen’s last nerves. In his darkest moments, he was certain that one day he would make one joke too many and Cullen would snap, and that would be the end of everything.

But here Cullen was, playing along with Alistair’s silly fairy tale fantasy. What had he ever done to deserve someone who loved him that much?

So he lay down beside his one true love and once again caressed his fingers down the side of Cullen’s face. “Oh, my handsome, brave knight,” he whispered. “I’ve travelled far and fought many battles to find you. I am sorry I took so long, and even sorrier that I was not by your side to help you fight your own battles, though your suffering has made you the strongest, bravest knight in the kingdom. Once you wake, we shall go home to my palace, and you will never want for anything again. I promise to protect you and love you forever, if only you’ll return to me.”

And, gently cupping Cullen’s cheek, he bent down and pressed a sweet, soft kiss to the still lips of his sleeping beloved.

When he finally pulled away, his stomach fluttered for an eternal moment until Cullen — who, Alistair reminded himself, was perfectly healthy _and_ awake — slowly and sleepily opened his eyes.

His smile was so sweet and beautiful that Alistair almost burst into tears.

“My prince,” Cullen said oh, so softly. “You broke the evil curse. I was alone for so long that I believed I could never find true love, but here you are. You saved me, my sweet, kind prince. I promise to always love and protect you, if only we can be together forever.”

Alistair’s heart pounded, full of so much love for Cullen he thought it might burst. Instead, words burst from his mouth.

“Marry me?”

Cullen’s eyes widened slightly, but he responded without a moment’s hesitation. “Yes.”

Alistair dove down and kissed Cullen with enough force that he elicited a small _oof_ , but then Cullen threw his arms around him and they both rolled to their sides, entwining their limbs and pressing their bodies together as closely as possible.

Cullen pulled back suddenly. “You are serious, yes? Because if that was a _joke_ , I —”

Alistair kissed him again, channeling his overwhelming feelings into a connection so intense that Cullen would have no doubt as to the answer. He knew he’d succeeded because Cullen responded in kind.

They continued like that, kissing and separating and grinning and gazing at each other in turns. After a while, their smiles softened, their gazes grew watery, their kisses calmed from intensely passionate to tearfully overjoyed.

“Maker’s breath, I love you,” Cullen whispered, caressing Alistair’s cheek with his thumb. “I’ve never been so happy in my life.”

“I love you, too.” Alistair couldn’t stop grinning. “Do you think maybe —” His voice gave out.

Cullen brushed his fingers through Alistair’s hair. “Maybe what, my handsome prince?”

Alistair laughed through his tears. “Maybe ‘happily ever after’ isn’t just for fairy tales after all?”

Cullen sucked in a breath that somehow sounded like both a laugh and a sob. “It seems too much to ask, and yet …”

“We’ve both found our Prince Charming? Or King, in your case.”

Cullen laughed, and Alistair rejoiced in the sound and the feel of it rumbling through his chest. “I suppose we have, at that.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

They continued like that until one of Alistair’s advisers knocked on the door.

Alistair opened it long enough to joyfully (and loudly) announce his engagement and that he would be remaining in bed with his fiancé for the rest of the day.

And they did, quietly planning and celebrating their hard-earned happy ending.


End file.
